Steam iron



' Sept. 30, 1958 B; F. FARR 2,853,815

STEAM IRON Filed Feb. 8, 1957 INVENTOR BERNARD F.PARR

' AT ORNEY United Sta es Fmp f v This invention rel-ates tosteam' ironsandha's for an object 'to provide improvedi'apparatus'of this kind.

A further object of the'invention is to provide an improved iron .of'kind particularly v adaptable for "ironing tubular Iandv otherrelatively. complicated .gar-

ments, which not in use," Y A till f herobject .of'the invention is toprovide ajcompact steaming'ironofthe so-called' travellers type.

In accordance with thefinvention, an'iron is provided having 'agenerally conventional sole'plate provided (with iron is compact f and.readily stored when covers the soleplate and ahandle of the so calledopen end type is fixed to the shell. The handle ishollow and preferablyfunctions as 'aiwater "reservoir. The front end Westinghouse ElectricCorporation, EastPittsburgh Pa a va vaporization chamber andtheusualpassages for delivering steam to ithe material being ironed." .A shellof the handle visopen to the reservoir for filling the latter 5 when theiron is upended. A manually operated member jisjproyided for openingandclosing "th'efopenend of the handll A valve for controlling flow ofwater from the reservoir'to thevvaporizing chamber is interlocked with.said member. and is closed when the member.is ,.adjusted to open thereservoir for filling. Converselyfthe i'alve is opened as the member isadjusted to close the reservoir.

The means interlocking the member and the valve is housed within thespace defined by the handle. means is provided for retaining themanually operated member in its open position.

These and other objects are effected by the invention as will beapparent from the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. l is a longitudinal side view, partially in elevation and partiallyin section, of-a steam iron constructed in accordance with theinvention; and

Fig. 2 is a front view of the iron, taken along the line IIII of Fig. 1.

Reference will now be had to the drawing disclosing the I inventionapplied to a steam iron having a soleplate or ironing base 10,, a shell11 suitably secured thereon and a handle 12 of the so-called open endtype. The latter includes an upaight post portion 13 and a cantileveredgrip portion 14 extending forwardly therefrom and terminating at itsfront end in spaced relation above the shell 11. An open end handle ofthe type disclosed facilitates the ironing of relatively complicated andtubular garments, as portions of the garment may be gathered or passedbetween the handle and the shell during the ironing of a second portionof the garment, all of which is well understood.

The ironing base 10 may be of any suitable construction including avaporization chamber 15, a steam outlet passage 16 and a plurality ofsteam discharge ports, some of which are shown at 17 and receiving steamfrom the passage 16. It will be understood that the base 10 has severalsteam ports 17 strategically spaced therein for the efiicient deliveryof steam to the garment being Suitable 2,853,815 Patented Sept. 30,.1958

ice

. 2 I pressed. As shown, the steam passage 16 leading to the variousports 17 is formed in the top of the soleplat'e '10 and is covered by aplate 18 suitably secured to the base 10.v The base 10 may be heatedelectrically in any "suitable fmanner and, in the interest of brevityand clearness of illustration, the heating means has not been disclosednor has the attachment cord usually u'sedIfor energizing-the heater;these elements per se forming no f part of the present invention.

A reservoir forwater is provided above the steam generating chamber 15land is preferably enclosed within the handle 12, as indicated at 19.The bottom of the reservoir is closed'by a plate 21 which, as shown,supports a valve structure, generally indicated at 22, andhavinga'discharge passage 23 communicating with the vaporization chamber15. Preferably,a dome or cover 24 is provided as a cover for thevaporization chamber 15 and 'is; brazed or otherwise secured to theplate 18, which ave: 2 4 is'also secured to the valve structure 22. Thevalve' s'tructure 22 includes a needle valve member 25 which, initslower position,'closes the passage 23 and, in, itsupper position, asshown, permits the metering vof water from the reservoir 19 to thechamber 15. Pref- 'erably, the needle valve member 25 is biased towardits open'position by a compression spring 26 carried by the 'valvestructure 22 and bearing against a shoulder 27 formed on the needlevalve 25.

In accordance with the invention, opening and closing of, the valve 22is effected by a finger piece or knob 28' arranged'at. the front end ofthe handle. The knob 28 isclonriected to the valve 22 by a resilienttie, generally iridicatedat 29, and passing throughthe space 19 within,"the handle. Theknob 28 plugs the front open end Qfth'espace 19 duringoperation of the iron and prevents .discharge-of 'water,therefrom.' Theknob 28 closely fits within the handle but is provided 'with a recess orgroove 31 defining 'a'vent for the reservoir or space 19. The

tie 29 connecting the knob 28 and the valve 22 includes a link 32 havinga tension spring 33 therein, and a bell crank 34 suitably pivoted withinthe handle, as shown at 35. The link 32 is connected at one end to theknob 28 and at its other end to one arm of the bell crank 34 through thespring 33. The other arm of the bell crank 34 engages the shoulder 27 onneedle valve 25 so that, when the plug 28 is withdrawn from the handle,the tie 29 moves the bell crank 34 clockwise for compressing spring 26and closing valve 22. It will be understood that the scale of spring33is greater than that of spring 26 so that there will be substantially noextens-ion of spring 33 until the valve 22 is closed.

The valve may be retained closed by a coupler or hook 36 preferablyformed on the link 32 and engageable with the front lip 37 of thehandle. At this time, the book 36 is maintained engaged with the lip 37by the tensioned spring 33 and the knob 28 hangs at one side of thehandle. The iron at this time may be upended for the admission of waterto the space 19 through the open front end of the handle 12. Uponuncoupling the hook 36 from the lip 37, the knob 28 is drawn within thelip 37 by springs 33 and 26, closing the space 19 and opening valve 25for the delivery of.

, 3 vaporization chamber may within the handle utilized to house thecontrol ri1ec'hanism for the actuation of the valve. The space withinthe handle is, however, preferably used as a water 're'servoir in theinterest of compactness. 7 :1 While the invention has been shownin butone form, itwill be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is notso limited, but is susceptible of 'various other changes andmodifications without departing from the [spirit ith ereof. What isclaimed is:

' 1. In a steam iron, the combination of an ironingbase having avaporizing chamber and steam discharge ports communicating therewith,a's'hell carried by'the base, a handle for manipulating the iron andincluding a supbe provided and the space of the reservoir during ironingoperations and manually "disengaged from the handle for the filling ofthe reservoir,

porting post fixed to the rear of the shell and a cantilevered gripextending forwardly from the post, said post and grip having a spaceformed therein and open at the front end of the grip for the adr'nisisonof water to the space, means conveying water admitted to the space tothe vaporization chamber and including a valve, a spring biasing thevalve to its open position, means for closing the valve in opposition tothe bias of the spring and including a resilient tie extending throughsaid space a from adjacent the open end thereof to adjacent said valve,means connecting the tie and valve, a plug closing said open end of thegrip and attached to said tie, said plug being manual-ly'disengaged fromthe end of the grip for opening the space and closing the valve andmeans associated with the end of said grip and said tie for retainingthe plug in its position disengaged from'the grip.

' 2. In a steam iron, the combination of an ironing base having avaporization chamber and steam discharge ports communicating therewith,a shell carried by the base, a handle having an upright portion securedto the shell and a cantilever grip portion extending forwardlytherefrom, said handle enclosing a water reservoir open at the front endof the grip portion for receiving water during a filling operation, aplug closing the open end a valve controlling flow of water from thereservoir to the vaporization chamber, means biasing the valve to openposition, a resilient tie extending through a portion of the waterreservoir and connecting the plug and valve for closing the valve inopposition to the biasing means when the plug is disengaged from thehandle and means coupling the tie to said handle for retaining the valveclosed-when. the plug iszdisengaged fromthe handle.

3. In'a steam iron, the combination of an ironing-base having avaporization chamber and steam discharge ports communicating therewith,a shell carried by the base, a

handle having an upright portion secured to the shell and I a cantilevergrip portion extending forwardly therefrom, said handle enclosing awater reservoir open at the front end of the grip portion for receivingwater during a filling operation,- a plug closing the open end of thereservoir during QjifOhing" operations and manually disengagedfronithe'h'andle for the fillingbf the reservoir, a .valve controlling flowof water from the reservoir to the vaporization chamber, a springbiasing the valve to its 'ope'n'position, a tie extending through aportion of the'w'ater reservoir and connectingthe plug and valve forclosing the latter in opposition to said spring when the plug .isdisengaged'from the handle, said tie having a second spring connectedtherein" having a scale" greater than the first named spring, meanscoupling the tie to' the :front .end of said grip portion for retainingthe valve closed when the plug is disengaged ifrom the handle and meansdefining a vent for the reservoir and formed in the 'P11 r ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,719,371 Bracej' non. 4,195 2,750,695 Swenson a June 19,1956

FOREIGN PATENTS 487,902 Italy Dec. 11, 1953

